Page 7 of Hot Mic

Then Sienna leaned into the mic. ‘Quick question for the audience… make some noise if you fly for fun?’

There was an extremely small murmur of yeses.

‘People fly to get where they’re going,’ Sienna said, her tone dry. ‘Almost no one flies for the view. It’s the same with relationships. That first part, with all the flirting and first kisses and big gestures… that’s a tiny proportion of a long-term relationship, and certainly not the point. The point is to find partnership. To land the plane.’

Shit, she was good. But Robin wasn’t out yet.

‘Spoken like a woman who’s never enjoyed a scenic route in her life,’ Robin countered smoothly. ‘We’re not talking about a commute, Sienna. We’re talking about love. And if you’re only in it for the destination, you’re missing the entire ride.’

The audience clapped heartily. Robin threw Sienna a quick wink. Sienna rolled her eyes.

The moderator stepped in, holding up a hand. ‘Alright! Let’s open it up to our floor audience. We have a mic set up in aisle one. Go ahead with your question.’

A young woman standing at the aisle microphone shifted her weight nervously, as her face was projected onto the large screen behind them.

‘Hi! I’m Maya from Bristol,’ she said, her voice echoing over the speakers. ‘So... I’ve been seeing this amazing girl for three weeks. She just got offered a job in Madrid, and she invited me to go with her. My friends say it’s crazy, but my heart is telling me to go. What do I do?’

Robin sat up instantly, her eyes lighting up. ‘Maya! Three weeks is fast, but a move to Madrid sounds magic! If you feel that pull in your chest—’

‘Maya, do not pack a single box,’ Sienna interjected smoothly, leaning straight into her mic.

The entire audience burst into a wall of laughter.

‘Three weeks is twenty-one days, Maya. You do not know her middle name. You do not know how she reacts under severe stress. What you’re feeling right now is elevated oxytocin. If you move to Madrid right now, that’s a hell of a gamble without any real information.’

‘Sienna,’ Robin groaned playfully, throwing her hands up in dramatic disbelief. ‘Let the woman live!’

‘I am trying to keep the woman from sleeping on a friend’s sofa in three months!’ Sienna shot back, turning her full attention back to Robin, her dark eyes flashing with pure, competitive heat. ‘Your advice is going to strand a young woman on the streets of Madrid with a suitcase and a broken heart!’

‘And your advice is going to keep her sitting on her comfortable couch, thirty years from now, wondering what if!’ Robin countered, leaning so far forward, her arse nearly left the seat. ‘You’re terrified of the crash, Vance! So terrified you won’t even let the plane leave the tarmac!’

Silence fell over the hall for one breathless, suspended second.

Sienna stared back at Robin. Her chest was rising and falling slightly faster than normal, her eyes dark and unreadable.

‘I am not terrified of taking off,’ Sienna murmured into her mic. ‘I simply require a pilot who actually knows how to land.’

The audience likes that one. Robin felt herself losing them a bit.

‘I think now’s a good time to take a vote,’ Lauren said. ‘Can the people who think Maya should take Sienna’s advice cheer?’

A roar went up.

‘And who thinks that Robin was right?’

A quieter roar.

‘Maya, the audience has spoken, and they think Sienna’s advice was sounder. Best of luck with your decision,’ Lauren told the girl at the mic.

Maya smiled shyly. ‘Thanks,’ she said and stepped away from the mic, immediately replaced with a girl with facial piercings.

Robin looked over at Sienna, giving her a small clap mime. She would take the loss. But she was down. Not out. Never out.

Sienna’s response was deeply ungracious. She simply looked away.

Game on, Vance, Robin thought. Game on.

Seven